In celebration of Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day during March 2017, Corning Incorporated’s locations around the world hosted events and discussions to honor trailblazing women within the company.

At Corning’s Headquarters on March 30, employees were invited to a panel Q&A discussion featuring six women in different positions and stages in their careers at Corning:

In keeping with the 2017 national theme for Women’s History Month, “Honoring Trailblazing Women in Labor and Business,” the panelists offered advice for those just starting their careers, talked about their experiences with mentors, and shared tips to balance work and life. They also answered questions from the audience, starting with a question from event organizers to kick off the discussions: “What is the best advice you’ve ever been given? What is the one piece of advice you would give to women just starting their careers?”

Ann Nicholson: “When I started to work for Corning, my dad shared some advice – ‘Don’t be the last person in, and don’t be the first person to leave.’ If I fit that in to how I’ve lived my career at Corning, it means have a good work ethic. It’s not about punching the clock, it’s about demonstrating you’re committed to the work, and that you work hard.”

Dawne Moffatt-Fairbanks: “Coming from the technical community, one piece of advice I have is you need to focus on delivering results. Use the knowledge that you have, use your experience, and deliver results. So as long as you’re doing what you need to be doing, you’re learning while you’re doing that, and people see those accomplishments, you’ll definitely continue to grow.”

Brittany Salgado: “I think for those who are early in their career and starting out, my advice would be to say yes to everything. Say yes to every single opportunity that comes your way. Even if you don’t know how to do it, even if it is not technically in your job description, say yes, and figure it out.”

Maureen Decker: “The one piece of advice that I would give is to really take the time to know yourself really well. Once I determined what I really liked, and decided the path I wanted to be on, that was when I really started to excel. Take opportunities whenever you get them, and learn from them.”

Jaclyn Welles: “This advice was given to me by one of my mentors – if you can say it professionally, you have the right to say it. This advice has been really empowering to me, especially if you’re given a task you don’t understand. Just being empowered to speak up, and speak your ideas is really important.”

Gabrielle Bailey: “When you’re new, it can be very overwhelming and a bit intimidating to be asked to do things that you have no idea how to do. But you learn so much by figuring out how to fulfill those requests. Then you realize that you have a lot more potential than you might have even thought.”